MARC GAGNON

Using Social Media in Website Design:What Facebook,
Twitter, and YouTube Do for a Website

June 5th 2014 - Shared by: Marc

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Over the last few years, the growing popularity of the internet has been responsible for the rise and fall of many companies, notably Barnes & Noble not being able to touch Amazon, Netflix dominating Blockbuster, and Skype’s services valuing approximately $2.5 billion total as of last year. No one can deny the internet’s affect on business models, and now, Social Media is changing things up again. The internet is enormous, and with no way to read every blog, page, or post no matter how valuable the information, businesses are relying on social media to add visibility to websites, provide links and traffic, and to achieve web success. Coupled with traditional SEO, these efforts are worthwhile.

Social media, when incorporated into website design ensures that your website doesn’t remain static. The future of Social Media is still unclear but the rules are already changing—we encourage you to establish a social presence on the web and not get left behind.

Let’s take a look how Twitter can help your website. Zappos.com owes their success to their Twitter presence, which drives organic search performance and has assisted them achieve excellent customer service as well as a high volume of sales, pulling in approximately $1 billion dollars last year. Sales aside, Twitter is useful in that it can help direct people’s attention to good things about your business. What do you want people to know about you? You can develop your public image and the way you’d like to be viewed in the public eye. For Twitter success, give advice, post blog posts, pictures, and any other information you perceive as interesting. Use Twitter as an opportunity to share an important side of your company, the “human” side. You can use Twitter as social media value for human connections. Twitter can also help with business development, if the majority of your prospects are online, and can even cause the “meeting of great minds”, providing daily learning opportunities. That is, if you’re following the right people.

Facebook has grown into a powerful tool for businesses. When used correctly, Facebook can direct your website, business, and brand to the target audience—your existing and potential customers. Facebook pages serve as part of your identity on the internet. You have the opportunity to carefully cultivate a profile, image, and brand and then present it to individuals who can then “friend” you if interested. If so, your information will be shared with their friends. You can show images, videos, company information, and even choose applications and other customizations to personalize your page. Advertising is gold on Facebook. You’ve got the opportunity to select and specify the demographic you’d like to show your ad to, then display your ad content directly to that targeted audience. Use Facebook polls to ask for judgment and reviews and discover the opinions and information you deem necessary for your business. Facebook’s business tools are still a work in progress, though.

Many small businesses (and larger ones as well) have discovered the value of YouTube. YouTube is free, easy to use, and has a huge audience behind it. YouTube is a fantastic marketing channel for any business. For your company’s YouTube account, take the time if possible to customize your YouTube channel and distinguish your company and your company’s image. Use their looks, branding, and colors to achieve a unique look. Interact with other YouTubers—comment on websites, friend people, engage in dialogue with others. Keep up to date on current related videos.

Group together content for easy viewing and create relevant playlists. You’ll be helping your viewers find the content they need. Tag your videos mindfully and provide descriptions that are relevant. Tags should be on point and SEO friendly. YouTube makes it easy to promote videos anywhere! Link them around the web, to your blog, website, or any other platform. Upload new videos, keep on top of comments, accept or deny friend requests as frequently as you can.

When used correctly, social media can change your business. You can learn what your consumers are saying about you online, communicate with customers, receive valuable feedback on products, personalize your company, share information, and build a customer base that’s enthusiastic about your product. Social media is important because the power is shifting into the hands of the consumers, who are blogging, tweeting, and posting videos of what they learn, see, buy, and do. Get involved… or you’ll have to play catch up later.

Simplicity is Elegance in Website Design

May 5th 2014 - Shared by: Marc

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In today’s world of modern technology, of advanced, forward thinking designs and extravagant ideas and modifications, using elegant website design is always considered a plus. It is always more likely to impress. When designing a website the same concept and principle holds true as well. However, while extravagant designs might help attract people to your site, going overboard with your design can become a problem. The truth is simple, timeless and elegant graphics and design will serve you well. They help you gain visitors to your site. They help you bring them back for more visits too.

In this article I present simple 3 tips to help you in designing that wonderful website that is both simple and elegant. As you will see, there is no need to be lost in a sea of designing tips. The simple tips that follow will help you in coming up with that simple and elegant website design that really works!

Tip #1) The first tip you have to remember is that simple backgrounds are more appealing. When we say this, it means that it is best to use simple patterned backgrounds. Backgrounds with matte and pastel colors fit the bill too. With the use of these simple backgrounds, people are more inclined to focus on the actual content of your site. These backgrounds and colors are also helpful in allowing visitors to absorbing the content. It is also important to remember that overly artsy backgrounds can get in the way of reading. They can be extremely annoying at times too.

Tip #2) The second tip is to never over decorate your website. Think of a Christmas tree that had been decorated with one too many ornaments. The result is you can no longer even see the tree itself! The same concept applies to your website. Do not use overly elaborate icons for links. Make your motto; simple logos will do well in my graphic design. Bullets and arrows are fine to use as well.

Tip #3) The last tip is to remember that the design is there only to enhance the appeal of your site. Your design should never be targeted as the main star of your website. People will be attracted to your website design but what they are after is the content of the site.

So there you have it! Three simple tips to keep your website simple, elegant and classy!

The New Facebook? Understanding Google+

April 25th 2014 - Shared by: Marc

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It seems like everyone has been talking about Google+ lately, a new social networking conglomerate developed by the giant Internet search engine Google. Although the platform is still in its field trial stage and is available by invitation only, there is already a large buzz about the product. So, what makes Google+ different from Facebook, the current most popular social networking site?

Through its three main features – Circles, Hangouts, and Sparks, Google+ differentiates itself because it

1) Gives the user more privacy by allowing him or her to be in full control of what is shared

2) Has a group video chat feature

3) Allows the user to uncover content rather than purely share content

For the Facebook crowd at large who is unfamiliar with Google+, here is a quick glimpse into the nuts and bolts of the new site.

The Stream

Once you get the invite, (the word is that there are currently tens of millions of users, so ask around – chances are you probably know someone who is using it) just sign in with your Gmail, Picassa, or Youtube account. You are then prompted to create your personal profile, which consists of a profile picture, introduction, education, employment, places lived, etc.

On the home screen, there is a GChat bar on the left side and a black bar at the top of the page that connects with Gmail, Calendar, Docs, Photo, Reader, and Web. Below this, there are four tabs that are quite similar to Facebook: Home, Photos, Profile, and Circles. The vast majority of the screen is taken up by a live news feed with comment and +1, or the “like”, capability of your Circles’s activities. But wait – what exactly is this “Circles” mechanism that keeps being referred to?

Circles

One of the three main features of Google+ is Circles. Circles allow you to sort your contacts into groups, including but not limited to friends, family, acquaintances, and following (like Twitter). Ever go through your 1000+ Facebook friends and not know who certain people are and how you met them? Have no fear – Google+ will keep your contacts organized.

Additionally, Circles allows you to easily share posts and pictures with only a specific group of people. There is also the option of adding friends without a Google+ account to a circle, in which they will receive your posts via email. By giving the user control of essentially every post shared, Google+ can be as private or public as you want it to be.

Hangouts

The Hangout tool is a video chat function. After downloading Google’s Voice and Video Installer, you have the capability to create a Hangout and invite up to ten people in your network to chat. Rather than planning Skype sessions in advance, Google+ posts that you are “hanging out” in the live stream and gives others the chance to jump in. Another appealing feature of Hangouts is the ability for Groups to watch Youtube videos or movies together.

An analogous application to Hangouts, the Huddle feature allows users to group chat through text. This can be useful for creating plans for the night or making decisions on a work related project.

Sparks

Sparks allows you to not only share content, but also to discover it. By typing your interests into the Sparks page that appears in your sidebar, you can stumble external sites that are of importance to you. Generally, these include current articles, videos, and other relevant content. Specifically, when I clicked on Recipes, which is one of the current featured interests, I was directed to “Foodmakers May Change Recipes to Cut Fat for Fare Advertised to Children,” “New Restaurant Shares a New Blueberry Pie Recipe,” and more. You can also share your favorite links from Sparks–and from anywhere on the web for that matter – onto your Wall.

More on Google+

Similar to other social media sites, Google+ is available for those on the go. The native mobile app currently is available for the Android, but the web app is accessible for all smartphones, and SMS is coming soon.

It is still undecided when Google+ will be fully available to the public, for Google+ representatives have stated, “How long the testing phase lasts, and how the product evolves, will really depend on how it goes. We don’t have a set amount of time” (Google+ Press Site).

But, for those who have already snagged the invite, this ultimate question remains: Will you switch to Google+ or stay with Facebook?